DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 81, 30 November 1912, Page 5

DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE.

A FORCIBLE INDICTMENT. (By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (United Press Association.) London, November 29. The Daily Telegraph declares that the 1 -suggestion to reduce the British ship-building in proportion to the ad given by the Dominions is so dishonourable and so fraught with danger tr the future co-operation of the British peoples in naval defence that, if adoptwe would condemn ourselves a> traitors in the eyes of the Empire. It recalls Mr Churchill’s admission that Britain at the average moment was 23 fco 30 per cent, weaker than the enemy’s selected moment, on ing to hci ships undergoing repairs. it continues that after the Dominions have done their best, Britain would be a battle squadron short, owing to the progress of Germany, Austria i am. Italy. Even Mr Churchill only provides twenty-five battleships for home waters, with full crews, compared with Germany’s twenty-nine fully commissioned battleships at Britain’s average moment. The older ships of the fifth and sixth squadrons have only hall crews, and there are no British battleships in the Mediterranean to meet Austria’s six and Italy’s eight at the average moment. Britain is supreme in neither northern nor southern waters. A defeat in the north would mean an invasion and defeat in the south, cutting off half Britain’s grain supplies.

DREADNOUGHT FROM INDIA. A BIG SCHEME. (Received 9.30 a.m.) London, November 29. The Indian rulers, princes, and nobles who are conferring at Bombay with a view to presenting three superDreadnoughts, nine armoured cruisers, suggested that the vessels be stationed in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. The movement originated during the visit of two leading Rajput Princes. Mr. Churchill, when first sounded, considered the scheme impracticable, but sixty Rajput Princes and many others, as well as the Indian people, responded to the suggestion to contribute.